


Five Times Galen Used a Nickname

by jumpingjaxx13



Category: Rogue One: A Star Wars Story (2016)
Genre: 5 Times, Alternate Universe - Everyone Lives/Nobody Dies, F/M, Family, Fluff, Fluff and Angst, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-12-30
Updated: 2016-12-30
Packaged: 2018-09-13 07:28:47
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,441
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9112729
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/jumpingjaxx13/pseuds/jumpingjaxx13
Summary: ...And One Time He Got One.





	

**Author's Note:**

> I needed this. I really did.

_ Jyn- Stardust _

 

Galen woke to the pungently clean smell of bacta and the blinding light of an unfamiliar sun illuminating a foreign room. Despite the implications of the scent, this was no imperial medbay. It lacked the meticulous sterility, superfluous med droids, and conveniently placed symbols reminding patients exactly who they owed their lives to. No, this room was cool and bland, the sounds of the outside world leaking in through an open window and not a single med droid to be seen. While far from run down, no imperial facility would be caught dead with such a lack of impressional propriety in their medbay.

 

Groaning, he tried to move only to be knocked down by the throbbing weight of his own body. His skin burned, a consuming ache coating his bones in the thickest of leads and pinning him to the bed. He squeezed his eyes shut, a single salty droplet kissing his cheek as he tried to coax himself out of pain. Memories of what happened so distantly recently flooded his mind, exacerbating the pulsing behind his skull. 

 

_ The engineers… Krennic… Jedha’s demise… The rebel bombs… His daughter… His  _ **_stardust_ ** _ … _

 

“...Papa?!” 

 

Galen’s eyes snapped open with a start, breath catching in his lungs.  _ That voice... _ He forced his head to roll to the side only to be greeted by the dirty, tear-stained face of his daughter. Jyn ran to his side, dropping to her knees beside him and carding her hands affectionately through his hair. 

 

Leaning into the touch, he sighed, heart accelerating with the sheer relief of her being alive. “My Stardust…” he breathed, tears welling up in his eyes to match the ones on her cheeks. Jyn slung her arms around his neck, cradling him as if she feared he may slip away. She buried her face in his neck as he returned the desperate embrace, tears staining each other’s skin. 

 

“We did it, Papa,” she muttered, causing his heart to swell a thousand times its regular size. “We all did it. We got the plans; we can destroy it now. The Alliance has granted you amnesty, Papa. We’ve already won.”

 

Galen buried his fingers in his daughter’s hair, a sob wracking his aching frame as the message sank in. His greatest pride and his cruelest vengeance had manifested itself in the same girl, and he couldn’t love her any more than he did in that moment. 

 

“I’m so proud of you, Stardust. I’m so proud…”

 

_ Cassian Andor- Sunburst _

 

The most peculiar thing Galen had noticed about the Alliance was the lack of everyday distinction he had grown so accustomed to while under imperial rule. Men and women of all different ranks interacted and enjoyed each other with minimal structure dictating their movements. After the imposition of the strict imperial hierarchy, this freedom of brotherhood would take some growing accustomed to.

 

Once he was on his feet, Jyn had wasted no time in introducing him to the team of battered warriors she had christened as friends: a captain, a monk, a guardian, and one man whose familiar face needed no introduction. Each one was littered with just as many cuts, bruises, and burns as he was, their own stories on the tips of their tongues. Despite what they had suffered on the bloodbath of Scarif, Galen had never seen a group of men glow with such joy. 

 

One man in particular seemed to glow brighter than the rest, though his brilliant smile would only break the horizon of his lips if Jyn were there to pull back the curtain. This Captain Cassian Andor was a sun crammed into darkness by the fists of the Empire and the Rebellion, but around Galen’s dearest stardust, he was no longer a captain. Simply Cassian Andor. 

 

Galen recognized romantic affection from the moment he saw the pair together, and while his mind still tried to piece together the lack of hierarchy, he couldn’t help but approve. Watching the two of them dance around each other with rosy cheeks and fluttering lashes almost made him feel young again despite how it gouged out that hole in his heart he thought had been filled.

 

After one such encounter, Galen approached them, interrupting the exchange of teasing jokes and laughter. His hands were folded professionally behind his back- a side effect of being a respected imperial scientist for nearly two decades- and a smile graced his lips. Brown eyes were warm with affection as he stood beside his daughter, resting a hand on her shoulder and sighing in satisfaction when she rested her head upon it. 

 

“Is there something I can do for you, sir?” Cassian asked. Galen glanced over his body, taking note of the way his posture was nearly unnaturally stiff. According to Jyn, a tumble he took on Scarif left him with internal damage to his core, forcing him to wear tight braces around his torso until the damage was manageable enough to permit flexibility. Knowing his pity wouldn’t be welcome, he kept his condolences himself and merely offered him a smile. 

 

“No, no. Nothing in particular. I just wanted to say hello to my Stardust,” he stated, hesitating only slightly before tacking on yet another nickname. “...and her Sunburst.”

 

Cassian’s eyes widened slightly, but his expression quickly melted into one of contentment and affection as Jyn laughed. Without lifting her head from her father's touch, she extended her hand to the captain. 

 

“You bet he's my Sunburst,” she teases lightheartedly, voice dripping with the affectionate teasing they had been engaged in only moments before. Galen watched as their hands joined together, paying special mind to the blush kissing the captain’s cheeks and the affection in the gaze he locked into Jyn. Placing his hand in his own pocket, he closed his fist and ran his thumb over his own knuckles as if to mimic holding someone else. 

 

_ Chirrut- Moonglow _

 

Chirrut Imwe, he soon discovered, possessed a strong preference for spiritual guidance over military tactic. Whereas other members of the Rebellion tried their hardest to play the game of war, the monk appeared openly unconcerned about strategy, which irritated K2 to no end. In the moments he would harbor for himself, he found that bickering amusing. 

 

‘ _ All is as the Force wills it.’ _

 

Those were the words repeated whenever he was asked for his opinion on any particular course of action, and while he found it foolish to dismiss the contributions of organic movements, Galen could appreciate the dedication he had. Galen had been young when the Old Republic fell, but what little recollection he had of the Force and her agents had always awed him. 

 

Chirrut Imwe also awed him. Despite being completely blind, he saw more than any other rebel mind on the team. He moved with the grace of silk itself and smiled a smile brighter than a thousand suns. What fascinated him most of all were his eyes, the hazy blue promising the wisdom of a thousand years and held the gentle light of the moon within them. On more than one occasion, Galen had caught himself staring a moment too long and quickly drove his attentions elsewhere. He knew better than to believe that a man of such intuition would have not noticed this, making the confrontation inevitable. 

 

He didn’t turn his head in his direction when he beckoned him over, his guardian somewhere out of sight. Galen approached him with a soft smile, knowing the gesture would be sensed as much as it could have been seen. 

 

“You think me a holy man,” he started off, head tilted in question. “You are wrong. I have dedicated myself to the Force, but that makes me no more worthy than you. The Force is with everyone, Galen Erso, and we are all one with the Force.”

 

Galen nodded, subtly taking comfort from those words. If it were true- he  _ knew  _ it was true- then he spared a chance to see his beloved Lyra again. Folding his hands behind his back once again, he nodded in agreement. 

 

“I understand. I apologize if I have offended you in any way. It was never my intention to do so.”

 

Chirrut raised a hand to silence him, that lopsided smile still sloping his lips. “You have not offended me, but I sense there is something else. Tell me, what do you see in my eyes?” Pleased by the faint startle received from his companion, he chuckled softly. “I know you have been watching me, but I don’t understand why. What have you been seeing?”

 

Despite himself, a blush rose to his cheeks as he scrambled for the right words to explain the situation. A heavy sigh passed his lips, any thoughts of fabricating an excuse vanishing as he recalled just how sensitive the monk could be. 

 

“To be honest, I’ve been seeing everything. You are a man much deeper than you let on, and you see more than you know. If you set your mind to it, I’m certain you could carry galaxies. Even with your depth, you’re soft and approachable, like the light of the moon.”

 

“...the moonglow…” Chirrut echoed, finally turning his head to mimic regard to Galen. 

 

“Yes,” Galen agreed, hands unfolding and falling to his sides comfortably. “My Moonglow.”

 

Said moonglow’s expression shifted between contemplative and satisfaction before settling on the former. “Interesting. Thank you, Galen Erso, and may the force of others be with you.”

 

_ Baze- Fireball _

 

Even without imperial records to officialize it, there was no doubting that Chirrut and Baze’s relationship extended far past that of friendship alone. Hells, even the romantic bonds between them- the ones so deep and strong that they were nearly visible- couldn’t be diminished to an affair by a reasonable mind. No, it would take a fool to overlook the fact that, regardless of legality or ceremony, Baze and Chirrut were a unit. 

 

That being said, it should have come as no surprise that Baze began to regard him with extreme suspicion after his encounter with Chirrut. 

 

It started off with a handful of sideways glances and posture to shield his husband from Galen’s view but quickly developed into a jealous, radiating tension between them whenever they stood in the same room. Cassian had tried to explain to him that Baze’s native culture emphasized the protection of loved ones over anything else and that this would wear off soon enough, but it distressed him nonetheless. Out of all the enemies he could possibly make on the rebel base, Baze Malbus was the last one he wanted. 

 

In contrast to Chirrut’s beckoning, Galen went out of his way to find Baze in what he hoped would be a peaceful, enlightening confrontation. Locating him wasn’t that hard, for one rarely traveled without the other and Chirrut had a certain telltale  _ presence _ . The two of them were sitting on a bench, sharing conversation (as much as one person talking and the other responding with gruff grunts could be considered a conversation). Galen hadn’t taken more than three steps forward before a voice broke through his internal concentration. 

 

“Galen Erso,” Chirrut mused, smiling peacefully. Baze’s reaction was immediate, one arm slinging around his husband and a guarded danger in his eyes. “I was wondering when you would come to speak with us again.”

 

“There’s been a misunderstanding,” Galen insisted, eyes trained on the heavily armed man. 

 

“So I’ve heard,” Chirrut agreed, shrugging Baze’s arm off of his shoulder and smiled up at him. “My dear, do you see it now? What I’ve been telling you?”

 

Galen watched in awe as the larger man appeared to relax, a gentle nod in his direction helping to collapse his tension. It almost felt as if he could breathe again after an eon underwater. “He is a lonely man, but not a predator. He only wants to reclaim what he has lost.” 

 

Baze rose to his feet and walked over to his counterpart, lips pursed in a slight frown. “I am sorry, my brother. I should not have assumed before I truly saw. I hope you find what you are looking for.” A hand on his shoulder and a gentle squeeze seemed to seal the deal, satisfying Baze enough for him to pull away. Despite the fact that Galen had barely uttered a word, the entire situation seemed to have played out satisfactorily in his favor. 

 

Chirrut stood and made his way over to where the pair stood, resting against the sturdy frame of his husband. “Excuse him. He can be a bit of a hothead when it comes to me.”

 

“Like your personal Fireball,” Galen offered, greeted with a pleased grin from Chirrut and a furrowed brow from his partner. 

 

“Moonglow and a Fireball… I like it,” Chirrut decided, patting Baze’s arm affectionately. “You have a good heart, Galen Erso. I pray that you never lose it.”

 

With that, Galen left the pair to themselves, hands behind his back once again as he walked. Despite having gained yet another friend, the lost phantom which they mentioned left him feeling all the more lonely.

 

_ Bodhi- Supernova _

 

Galen burned his imperial uniform, taking a perverse sort of pleasure in watching it crumble to embers. The symbols which turned to ash had brought him so much pain over the course of his life, and it was almost a relief to take the match to it. Even while under the protection of the Alliance, his imperial past haunted him in ways he could not control.

 

By this point, he had unwaveringly decided that Senator Jebel was out to make his life a living hell. Through his voice, both he and his pilot had been interrogated, monitored, and separated until the day came in which they could  _ ‘trust’ _ these defectors. Apparently, offering the key to rescuing an entire galaxy from brutal tyranny wasn’t enough to set them apart from other imperials. The only glimpse he got of Bodhi before they were mandated apart was that first day after regaining consciousness, the dirt and burns still streaking across his face.

 

For this reason, as well as countless others, Galen burned his suit and spat on the ashes.

 

Weeks went by like this, full of debates for their fates fueled by Jyn’s righteous fury. Despite her arguments and status as a hero of the Rebellion, it took nearly two months before the majority of the Council shifted in favor of the defectors, leaving Jebel’s prejudiced ideas of segregation in the dust.

 

For the first time in nearly two decades, Galen bore the emblem of an organization on his clothing with pride. Though this same symbol was the same as the one he had witnessed when bombs made his life flash before his eyes, he shrugged the jacket on with a smile. From this moment onward, Galen Erso was a fully recognized rebel and damn proud of it. 

 

The reunion he shared with Bodhi was twice as sweet as the jacket, nearly moving him to tears in the middle of the hall. They caught each other’s gaze as Galen entered the hall belatedly, greeted with the image of his group of newly christened friends chattering about. It was difficult to believe that he’d been embraced by them after spending so many years rotting away under the pressures of imperial Eadu. Off to the left stood Jyn and Cassian-  _ Stardust  _ and her  _ Sunburst _ \- mirrored by Baze and Chirrut to the right-  _ Moonglow _ and his  _ Fireball _ . Who was perched in the center of the group is what truly made his stomach drop, heart rising into his throat until he could scarcely breathe. 

 

There stood Bodhi, hair pulled back in a messy braid and eyes glimmering with his typical youthful spirit and wearing a  _ rebel jacket _ that matched his own. The smile on his face lacked the tensions and anxieties he usually bore and instead possessed a jovial excitement that he’d only been blessed with a handful of times before. It took a moment of longing staring before Galen realized what was happening.

 

For the first time since he sent him off, Bodhi was tangible and  _ there  _ and  **_alive_ ** .

 

Galen moved forward as if on autopilot, the only sense of direction he had being the guiding pull of his heartstrings toward the only thing to have ever come close to filling that gaping hole within him. 

 

Bodhi caught his eye halfway through, the blood draining from his cheeks instantaneously as he pushed through the parted curtain of friends to meet him halfway. Neither could stop themselves as they collided, arms wrapping around each other and hands wandering over every inch of their bodies they could reach. Tears welled up in Galen’s eyes and he buried his head into the crook of Bodhi’s neck, taking in his scent. The hands which had damned so many to death went from his back up through his hair, eventually settling to frame Bodhi’s face as they distanced themselves enough to look at each other. 

 

A series of streaks kissed Bodhi’s flushed cheeks, that great, broad, beautiful smile accenting his face. Galen swiped his thumb over the tears, cutting off the path before it could grow any thicker. His heart lurched, pounding and tugging incessantly with the demand to be closer than they already were. The younger man laughed softly, leaning into the touch with awed affection as Galen stroked his cheek so gently. 

 

“Bodhi, this is amazing. You’re amazing,” he muttered, taking in every last ounce of Bodhi’s presence he possibly could while in polite company. “You did this. You did all of this, and you made it out alive. I’m so proud of you, Bodhi. You kind, brave, brilliant man. My spectacular  _ Supernova _ .”

 

The sound of someone clearing their throat was the only thing that drew him away from the shine of Bodhi’s eyes. He was greeted with an overall knowing look from the remaining four, smirks playing on their lips. Embarrassed, the pilot stepped to the side and rubbed the back of his neck.

 

“Ah.. I may have told them everything… I’m pretty sure they would’ve figured it out anyways, but I-”

 

Galen silenced the rambling with a kiss- simple, chaste, and desperate. He savored the plush pliancy of his lips against his own, overwhelmed by his own emotions to care much about anything else. Breaking the kiss, Galen ran his fingers through dark hair, smiling affectionately down at him. To think, he had been so foolish as to hide his past away after the truth had already been exposed. It was laughable. 

 

“Come on, Bodhi. It’s rude to keep them waiting,” he teased, taking a gloved hand in his own, too enthralled to pay too much mind to the commentary from the two other couples as they rejoined them. 

 

After having absorbed himself in his own loneliness, he’d never felt so completely full of life.

 

_ Plus One: Galen- Nebula _

 

Nearly two decades had passed since his everything was stolen away from him, leaving him blustering and grasping at any source of comfort. The daughter that filled his dreams differed violently from the Stardust that greeted him every morning, the emblems on their twin jackets marking them as equals. Behind closed doors, he celebrated this victory with his younger lover, the sparks just as bright as the day they first met. His slightly uncanny affinity for nicknames met little resistance after a while, those terms of endearment simply blending into their given names. 

 

_ Stardust, Sunburst, Moonglow, Fireball, Supernova. _

 

“...and Nebula.”

 

The addition had come so suddenly after months of simply  _ accepting _ that it took Galen aback. Cassian, who had suggested the name, shrugged and dropped his gaze to his plate. In the middle of the mess hall, anything could be said and heard without concern. 

 

“I figured you’d like one of your own,” he confessed, poking idly at his food. “And it makes sense. Nebulas carry the stars… It made more sense in my head..”

 

Slowly, a smile stretched across the older man’s face as he surveyed the others. Jyn carried a galaxy in her eyes as she looked at her partner, sparing an approving glance to her father. Chirrut and Baze seemed satisfied, nodding in contentment. Bodhi took his hand under the table, looking up at him with those dewy brown eyes. 

 

“ _ My Nebula,”  _ he mused, voice full of laughter and endearment. Chuckling softly, Galen nodded, letting his thumb run over Bodhi’s knuckles gently. 

 

“Nebula it is, Sunburst,” he teased lightheartedly, shooting a wink from across the table. “The nebula and his stars.” 

  
What had been stolen from him had finally been returned, the hole in his heart patched up by the light of his family of stars.

**Author's Note:**

> Happy endings for everyone yaay! Also what is an ending


End file.
